Kenya announced on Wednesday it is currently in talks with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the United Nations’ International Civil Air Organization (ICAO) to roll out vaccine passports for its citizens in 2022.
Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary of Ministry for Tourism and Wildlife told journalists in Nairobi that the discussions with the two UN bodies will focus on how to implement the passport in the most effective way.
“We will have a vaccination card for Covid-19 and probably you need to be vaccinated every year,” Balala said during the launch of the Covid-19 vaccination drive for all frontline workers in the tourism and hospitality sector. Mr Balala said that at the moment vaccination against Covid-19 cannot be a requirement to travel into and out of Kenya because most countries have not inoculated their population.
He noted that currently, the vaccine passport is not viable as only a few countries have achieved high vaccination rates for their populations.
“We are concerned in Kenya and Africa that some countries have over-ordered their requirement than what they need for vaccines and this makes it difficult for some countries to find the vaccines,” he added.
